The Will of Fire
by dolxlob
Summary: Naruto and Jiraiya travel to Earthland after finding a space-time fuinjutsu in the ruins of Uzushiogakure. Can the ninjas from Konoha find new friends and allies in this strange world of mages? As the two worlds grow closer together, they will be forced to either stand or fall together. Eventual massive crossover between Naruto and Fairy Tail worlds. Pairings undecided.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"Come on, Ero-sennin! You should be teaching me powerful new jutsu, not reading dusty old scrolls!"

"I'll show you something new if _you_ show _me_ that you've mastered the Big Ball Rasengan, gaki," the Sannin responded absently, not even bothering to look up.

Naruto grimaced in frustration. Once again, his training was being neglected in favor of "research" for his _Icha Icha_ novels. Sometimes, Naruto wondered how much more progress he would hace made if the white haired shinobi had taken a more active role in educating the genin. Still, Naruto had learned the original Rasengan in record time this way, although he still needed a shadow clone to make it work. It was hard to argue with results.

This time, however, the "research" was actually research, and Naruto doubted it had anything to do with his sensei's novels. Now that Naruto thought about it, Jiraiya had been acting unusually over the last few days. His temper had been shorter than normal, and he'd seemed distracted. And, of course, there was the sudden detour to these old ruins.

Naruto glanced over his surroundings again. They were in the ruins of a village on an island, just east of the Land of Fire. It had obviously been abandoned for quite some time, at least fifteen years by Naruto's estimation. Broken stone walls and pillars littered the area. Much of the surviving architecture was decorated with a spiral insignia identical to the ones on the blond jinchuriki's orange jumpsuit. A wide river flowed sluggishly through the middle of the dead village.

Jiraiya was reading through scrolls in what must have once been a record house. Most of the books and scrolls there had been burned or looted, but hundreds of the less important records remained. The toad sage seemed to be particularly focused on genealogies and the most recent of the village archives. Naruto could easily see why no one had wanted to steal them over the years. Judging by the occasional muttered curses coming from the crumbling building, Ero-sennin wasn't having too much luck finding whatever he was looking for.

He'd already been practicing for hours while Ero-sennin studied those old scrolls. The Big Ball Rasengan was surprisingly difficult. He could form it, but it would only last a few seconds after his shadow clone dispelled before it either fizzled or exploded. _Well... Big Ball Rasengan, today's the day I conquer you! Then Ero-sennin will teach me an awesome new jutsu!_ Naruto thought as he walked out into the empty street. _Maybe it will work better if I add more power._

The young jinchuriki formed a hand seal and created a shadow clone. Together, they formed a basic Rasengan, then slowly expanded it. He could feel it this time. It was going to work for sure. He fed it chakra until it grew to the size of his head, before suddenly destabilizing. _Not again!_

The chakra sphere exploded in his palm, obliterating his shadow clone and burning his hand. His chakra pulsed out in a wave of minor destruction. _I added too much power that time, so I lost control of... Control! That's what I need to do! Chakra control exer-_

A ray of light flashed out from a nearby doorways.

_What was that?_

Without thinking twice (or even once, if he was honest with himself), Naruto ran up to the doorway and peeked through.

"Ero-sennin? I think you should see this..."

* * *

The Legendary Toad Sage of Mt. Myoboku, Jiraiya of the Sannin, felt like pulling out his hair in frustration. This was impossible! Not only had he been forced to put up with hours of Naruto bothering him, but the records were so incomplete! And even if he knew who had survived, tracking them down would be incredibly difficult. The Uzumaki clan had scattered and hidden all over the nations following the destruction of Uzushiogakure. _Orochimaru..._ he growled to himself.

The Snake Sannin had sent a clone a few days ago. Apparently, the Akatsuki were interested in eliminating the former member of their ranks, so Jiraiya's former teammate was getting back at them by leaking information. He had given several vague hints about the Akatsuki's motives and goals.

* * *

_"Did you know that there are always supposed to be ten official members? What could that mean, mmm?"_

* * *

_"Their plans involve a stone statue called Gedou Mazou. I can only guess as to how they got it. It was meant to be as unreachable as the moon in the sky..."_

* * *

_"Here is a little coincidence I found amusing: their most powerful member, their leader, is from the same clan as the jinchuriki of what is _currently _the most powerful Bijuu. Perhaps it would be amusing to watch him and your little apprentice battle. In any case, I would love to see your face when you see _his _face. Kukukuku..."_

* * *

_"You lose if they open all nine eyes."_

* * *

_"If you can't figure the answers out now, I don't think you deserve them... Tell your student that Sasuke-kun is... well... kukuku!_

* * *

Still, Jiraiya had a something to work off of, assuming Orochimaru had been telling the truth: the Akatsuki's leader was an Uzumaki, and the identity of this Uzumaki would be particularly meaningful to the Toad Sage. His messenger toad had already reported that Konoha had no useful information. So far, he hadn't found a record of anyone who fit that description in Uzushiogakure's archives, either.

_Maybe he was born after Uzushiogakure was destroyed, like Naruto. Or maybe any record of him here was destroyed. Or maybe he had never lived in Uzushiogakure. Or maybe something else entirely..._

It seemed hopeless, but at the same time they were closer than they ever had been to discovering the identity of the Akatsuki's leader. _If Orochimaru told the truth._

"Ero-sennin? I think you should see this..."

Jiraiya snapped out of his thoughts. What was it this time? If he had mastered the new Rasengan, his voice would be quivering with excitement. Now that Jiraiya's focus was back on the world, he could feel chakra gathering in Naruto's direction. _What the... That's Nature chakra!_The Sannin froze for a moment, before moving outside with a body flicker.

Almost instantly, Jiraiya was next to Naruto, looking at a glowing seal array inscribed on what appeared to be a doorway in the middle of the room. The pair stared at it for a moment, before the Seal Master walked over to it, inspecting it curiously.

_Fascinating... It's some sort of seal based space-time jutsu, sort of like Minato's... But there's an extra bit here-what's it supposed to do? I've never seen anything quite like it before... And how is it gathering Nature chakra? Hmmm... That part there seems to be the power source. It looks sort of like that Curse Seal of Orochimaru's... I suppose that would make sense. It's not very efficient though. It's absorbing Nature chakra at a pathetic rate... But a self-sustaining seal powered by Nature chakra? It would take a genius to get it to work in the first place, and it's an amazing idea in theory... Just a smidgeon of chakra to activate and deactivate it, and it can remain on indefinitely after powering on... Come to think about it, why did it activate now? Naruto must have had something to do with it..._

It was then that Jiraiya remembered he was not alone in the old room.

"Don't worry about it, gaki. This seal is attempting to create a portal. It's harmless unless you actually try to walk through it." Naruto, for his part, didn't look like he'd been worrying about it at all. Jiraiya continued speaking. "What were you doing before it activated?"

Naruto quickly explained his accident with the Big Ball Rasengan.

Jiraiya continued his inspection. _Of course... It's supposed to activate when it comes in contact with Uzumaki chakra. These seals here strengthen it, which is probably why it survived the invasion..._ Mostly, Jiraiya was interested in where the portal led. The added group of seals at the destination address piqued his curiosity. More importantly, it was possible that some of the Uzumaki clan had escaped this way. Every bit of information he could gather on the Akatsuki could save lives and bring him one step closer to his dream.

Slowly, a portal began to form in the empty doorway before them. When it was fully formed, Jiraiya and Naruto peeked through curiously. On the other side was a forest, comprised of much smaller trees than those around Konoha. It wasn't any place that Jiraiya recognized immediately. After a pensive moment, he made his decision. The portal could remain open indefinitely, and even if it did close they could have the toads perform a reverse summoning to get to Konoha. It was possible it would lead to hostile territory; hopefully, the rewards would be worth the risk.

"Alright, gaki, make a shadow clone," Jiraiya said. "You're going to do a bit of exploring. Gather as much information as possible without being noticed. Think of it as spy training."

"Finally!"

* * *

Although no one could have told, Mystogan was smiling from behind his mask. There hadn't been any Anima incidents for over a week, and he'd been able to complete a string of missions. Once he got back to Fairy Tail, he was going to pick up another mission. There was nothing quite like saving people from monsters and evil mages. Their smiles reminded him why he fought so hard against Anima, the interdimensional magic from Edolas; they were what kept him more or less sane in his self-imposed isolation.

Then he felt a familiar sensation from one of the staves strapped to his back. Anima! Mystogan's smile disappeared. In a moment, his body vanished as well, turning into a fine mist that quickly dissipated.

The S-class mage rematerialized a short time later, a few miles from a small settlement known as Rosemary Village. Cautiously, he eyed the emerging portal in front of him. Clearly, this wasn't an ordinary Anima. It was much less powerful, much quicker, and seemed to be forming a two-way portal. Already, it was almost finished. What was the old man up to now? Or maybe it was the Exceeds again? In any case, it probably wasn't good. Mystogan began preparations for his Anima-suppressing spell. Even though this wasn't Anima, strengthening the dimensional barrier would almost certainly stop it, especially since this portal was so weak compared to normal Anima.

The portal solidified, and a little later a young boy in a bright orange jumpsuit jumped through. He had spiky blond hair, blue eyes, and a wide grin on his face. Three parallel lines marked each cheek, like whiskers. He was wearing a headband with some sort of spiral symbol that looked sort of like a snail. _What..?_ The kid couldn't have been much more than 12 years old. He appeared to examine his surroundings shortly before his blue eyes settled on Mystogan.

"Who are you? Where am I?"

Mystogan didn't opt to answer. Instead, he continued to study the genin while finishing his spell. Hopefully, the boy would go back through the portal. Then, Mystogan could deactivate the dimensional rift without stranding him in Earthland.

"Hey! I'm talking to you, creepy staff man!" The blond seemed to be growing agitated as more time passed. He shouted a few more challenges and tensed up, looking as if he intended to attack the masked mage.

Being silent and intimidating obviously wasn't working.

"I am Mystogan of Fairy Tail. You must leave. Do not return."

The boy, apparently taking the S-class mage's advice, disappeared in a puff of smoke. Without skipping a beat, Mystogan threw his staves in a circle around the portal and released his spell.

* * *

"No fair! There was somebody waiting there! How am I supposed to be sneaky when somebody's watching from the other side?" Naruto exclaimed. He had been about to show Ero-sennin his amazing skills, but the man on the other side of the portal had ruined that.

He and Ero-sennin watched, hidden, as the jinchiriki's clone engaged the mysterious stranger in conversation. If it could be called a conversation. He had a feeling of danger about him, and a visible forehead protector, so he was obviously a ninja. His hitae-ite, however, had no visible symbol to mark his allegiance. _Missing-nin?_ The only visible part of the strange shinobi's face were his eyes. He wore a tattered, dark colored cape, and bandages covered his arms and legs. He had a number of odd staves strapped to his back.

Ero-sennin looked worried about the turn of events. He still seemed determined to explore the other side of the space-time jutsu in front of them, though.

"Alright, gaki, on my signal dispel your clone. Then, we'll jump through and engage the missing-nin. I don't recognize him from the Bingo Book, so he's probably not particularly dangerous, but don't underestimate him. Let me handle it," the Toad Sannin whispered, "or if you must, use your clones instead of engaging him directly."

Naruto was about to protest when the mysterious missing-nin spoke for the first time.

"I am Mystogan of Fairy Tail. You must leave. Do not return."

_Fairy Tail?_

Jiraiya signalled Naruto before he could think any more about it. The genin dispelled his clone and followed his sensei through the portal.

Just as Naruto emerged there was a bright flash of light, and the space-time jutsu behind him disappeared.

* * *

_Kuso,_ Mystogan swore silently as the blond boy from earlier and an older man with a mane of white hair leapt through the portal. He felt his spell activating and the portal closing, but the extradimensional duo had already entered Earthland. Now, it appeared they were stuck. Mystogan, however, had other problems to consider. The white haired man was charging to attack him.

Reacting swiftly, Mystogan dissolved his body into mist before the other man could reach him, and made his way toward his guild in Magnolia City. He would report the incident to Master Makarov, the wise, old leader of Fairy Tail. This whole situation was perplexing to the mage from Edolas. Perhaps the Guild Master would have some insight.

* * *

Jiraiya frowned. The missing-nin had somehow been able to remove the portal. He also knew a teleportation jutsu of some sort, and had gotten away. Thus, if they decided to continue forward, they would be forced to assume that there were missing-nin waiting to ambush them somewhere. Taking necessary risks, however, was part of what it meant to be a ninja. And who knew? There might be a lot of beautiful women in this part of the world. The self-proclaimed Super Pervert smiled lecherously. It had been far too long since he'd been able to do any research.

"Alright, gaki. Let's go find out exactly where we are."

"Are you gonna train me now, Ero-sennin? Teach me a cool new jutsu!"

Jiraiya sighed loudly. It appeared that being driven slowly insane by his apprentice was another necessary risk he would have to take.

* * *

Naruto concentrated chakra into the palm of his right hand, as a clone assisted. _Spin. Power. Containment._ A basic Rasengan formed, although it was larger than normal, and felt much unstable. _More power, more control._ He could do this! The Rasengan expanded. Much quicker than it should, Naruto noticed. Before he could slow it down, the now-huge Rasengan completely engulfed his hand and exploded.

"Aaaaargh!" Naruto screamed, clutching his burnt hand.

"You put way too much power into that. Now, you won't be able to use that hand for a day or two," Ero-sennin pointed out, as the pair continued their trek through the forest. "Think about that the next time you want to take a shortcut."

"I know that there aren't any shortcuts!" Naruto protested. "I didn't mean to put that much chakra into it..."

He needed more control. Since he couldn't use his hand anyway, now was the perfect time for some chakra control exercises. He didn't see any water nearby, so he would have to do treewalking. Maybe he could find a way to increase the difficulty. He walked up to the nearest tree, concentrated chakra along his feet, and began to walk up the side. He only made it one step before he fell. _What?!_ Ero-sennin burst out laughing.

Apparently, he had used too much chakra. That was impossible, though. He treewalked all the time. There was no way he could have gotten the wrong amount. He tried again, this time ready to gauge the amount of chakra he needed as he went, like he would when waterwalking. He walked up to the tree, and straight up the side. This time he was ready, and he made it up the side of the tree without difficulty. He was using less chakra than he should be. Something was seriously wrong. Was he somehow tapping the fox's chakra without realizing it?

"Sensei! Something's going on here! My chakra control's all messed up. You think the fox is causing it?"

"Maybe you just messed up. You do that a lot."

"I do not! I'm an amazing shinobi! I never give up! And I never go back on my word..." Naruto trailed off. _I _will _bring you back, Sasuke._ "Anyways, could you come check the seal?"

Naruto watched as the seal master trudged over to his tree and attempted to walk up the side. For a moment, his eyes widened and looked a little unstabe. The Sannin recovered quickly, and continued to where Naruto stood.

"Odd... I don't seem to need as much chakra. Is that what happened to you?"

Naruto nodded. His teacher frowned for a moment.

"It obviously doesn't have anything to do with the fox, or it wouldn't affect me. We should probably check the seal anyway."

After a short examination, seeing nothing amiss in the seal, Ero-sennin continued to speak, thinking aloud like he sometimes did: "I can feel an energy from the atmosphere, mixing with my chakra. It's like a less powerful Sage Mode. It's not senjutsu, though: Naruto here isn't a toad statue, and it appears to be mixing passively, even while we're moving. What would happen if I did try to enter Sage Mode? Better to not try until I get better control of this new energy. Heh, maybe it's a good thing that missing-nin fled earlier. This could have caught me by surprise in a fight... Where are we? Maybe the toads will know something..."

Naruto nodded as his sensei spoke, pretending he could understand. _Sage Mode? Senjutsu?... I'm not a toad statue?!_ Hopefully, the Toad Sage would explain what he meant by that. Usually when he got talking like that, however, he was as tight-lipped as a clam, and no amount of cajoling could get him to reveal what it all meant. Naruto, however, wasn't known for giving up.

"What's senjutsu?"

The Toad Sage ignored his confused student, and the duo got down from their tree. Abandoning his comprehending facade, Naruto asked more and more questions. As expected, though, he never got any substantial answers. Naruto watched Ero-sennin, who had a look of concentration on his face. From his comment earlier, he was probably preparing for a major toad summoning. Naruto could feel him gathering chakra.

Suddenly, the perverted sage bit his thumb, formed a few hand seals. "Summoning jutsu!" he cried out, slamming his bloodied palm onto the ground. A circular seal array spread out before vanishing. No smoke. No toad appearing. A panicky look crossed the Sannin's face. Naruto began to feel worried as well. Their portal had failed, their chakra control was messed up, and now Summoning jutsus weren't working? Even Naruto was realizing that they might be in major trouble.

After a pause, Ero-sennin began to speak. "Information gathering will absolutely vital. Make as many clones as you can. The Shadow Clone jutsu was originally created for reconnaissance. Whenever a clone dispels, you get its memories."

"Really?" Naruto asked. It seemed like he would've noticed something like that. It sounded sort of confusing.

"Just trust me on this one. You'll stay with me, and we'll follow up on anything your clones discover. Try to avoid attention, but that's not our first priority," Jiraiya ordered. "...And don't start any fights."

"You got it!" Naruto raised his hands in a cross, collecting chakra for a moment.

"Multi Shadow Clone jutsu!"

Puffs of smoke appeared in every direction. They cleared to reveal around 500 blond genin, who ran off in every direction. The original and Ero-sennin remained behind. Ero-sennin turned to Naruto again.

"I'll need you to concentrate, gaki. When a clone dispels, you won't notice the new memories appearing because it'll feel like you had them all along." This explanation didn't make any sense at all to Naruto, so he decided to just accept it. "You can catch memories appearing, but only if you pay very close attention. I'll help you with that..." Ero-sennin had an evil-looking glint in his eyes. Naruto gulped.

* * *

Makarov frowned as Mystogan finished explaining what had happened. They were in Makarov's private office in Fairy Tail. The room was small, like the man who owned it.

The Guild Master of Fairy Tail cleared his throat before replying. "Return to Rosemary and find the two of them as soon as possible. From your story, I highly doubt their motives are sinister."

"Understood."

"It sounded as if they were lost and confused. They are probably even more so now. You of all people should be able to understand that." Mystogan nodded as Master Makarov stated this. "When you find them, they will probably attack you like before. Avoid fighting them at all costs, even in self-defense."

The Guild Master paused for a moment before going on. "I suggest that you reveal your identity to them. I know it will be painful for you, but what they need is a friend in this new world, a kindred spirit, someone who can sympathize with them. You can be that for them. It is, of course, your decision."

Mystogan nodded once again, before dissolving into mist.

* * *

**A/N: So, what did you think? Any feedback you have would be really nice. Was there anything that you liked? Was there anything that bothered you? Did anyone seem too OOC to you? Were there any quirks in my prose that interrupted its flow, like words repeated too often? Did you find any spelling or other errors? I don't have a beta, so I apologize in advance for mistakes I missed. Was the chapter length good? Should they be longer? Was there anything you had difficulty understanding? Do you have any questions? Any other comments or suggestions?**

**I have a few things to say. First, yes, this chapter didn't focus on Naruto very much. There will be more focus on Naruto in later chapters. However, I intend to have multiple viewpoints. This is not a story about just Naruto. Eventually, this will be a full crossover with many characters from both 'verses interacting. I don't think this can be fully captured while just focusing on Naruto. I am a little worried that I changed viewpoints a bit too often, though. Your input here would again be appreciated. Second, the story is set about a year into Naruto's training trip with Jiraiya, and at the start of the Galuna arc in Fairy Tail. Third, I haven't quite decided exactly how I want to balance power levels. I have a few ideas, some of which you've already seen the a little, but I'd like to hear your ideas on this. No matter what, though, neither 'verse will have a significant advantage over the other. Last, I'm still thinking about which pairings I should use, if any. Again, I'd like to hear your thoughts on this. The most important thing for me here is believability. I will never try to force a pairing. So, if you want a particular pairing, please explain why/how it could/would/should happen.**

**Anyways, thanks for taking the time to read my story, and thanks in advance for your response and feedback! Hope you enjoyed it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: This is, of course, the obligitory chapter of crossover fics like this where the characters slowly come to realize that they're in a different world, etc, etc. If you're like me, then you're probably a little tired of them. Unfortunately, this is how the characters really would act in this situation, so it's sort of necessary.**

**Here's my solution: if you want to just skip it, there's a summary at the end decribing the important events of this chapter, and I'll post an update extra fast. There won't be any hints or clues important enough to ruin your reading experience if you skip. If you enjoy these chapters, then just read on.**

* * *

"Hey, gaki! Can you tell me what any of your clones have been doing?" Jiraiya asked his young student for what must have been the hundredth time. The two ninja had moved to another area of the forest, and were now waiting for Naruto's clones.

Naruto shook his head. "No, I can't tell you anything about a single one of them! And I probably won't in 30 seconds, either, dattebayo!"

Jiraiya chuckled to himself. Apparently, he was really starting to bother Naruto. It was sweet justice for all the times the little brat had bothered him about this or that. Kami, but the boy could be loud and persistent. Of course, Jiraiya was only doing this because it was necessary, but that didn't mean he couldn't take a small bit of pleasure from the situation.

At the moment, the boy was working on a simple chakra control exercise Jiraiya had given him. This one involved using chakra to levitate slightly above the ground. It was useless in a fight, of course, but very effective for improving chakra control. Jiraiya was doing the same although, by now, he had mostly adjusted to the strange power boost.

Mostly, he focused his attention on studying the scroll in front of him. It contained copies of a few sections of the sealing jutsu from Uzushio. Jiraiya had hastily transcribed them while Naruto had had his conversation with the masked missing-nin. He paid particular attention to the section that described the portal's destination. With luck, he might be able to figure out, in general terms, what the seals were meant to accomplish.

Deciphering a sealing jutsu from its kanji was very difficult, if not impossible. The kanji provided only the framework around which chakra was applied to create the jutsu. It was sort of like trying to guess what a person looked like by examining their skeleton. And that was assuming whoever had created the jutsu didn't actively try to make it difficult to decipher or copy. Jiraiya did have an advantage, though: he had been closely and throughly examine how chakra through the seal while it was active. If he knew exactly what the seal was supposed to do, he might even be able to duplicate.

The kanji here seemed to go beyond most space-time jutsu in some fundamental way. Exactly _how_ was anyone's guess.

Jiraiya realizaed it was probably time to ask the blond boy next to him about his clones again. "Do you remember anything now?"

"Of course not! I..." Naruto blinked. "Actually, I do remember something. Apparently, there's a small town in that direction." The genin pointed.

"Then let's take a look. Do you have any important information to share before we get there, like where the women's baths are?"

* * *

Naruto and Ero-sennin walked into the village known as Rosemary, as indicated by a tall sign. They were both using a Transformation Jutsu because, after all, a shinobi could never be too careful. Naruto had transformed himself into a civilian boy they'd seen in the last village they'd visited. He had short brown hair that laid flat on his head and green eyes. He had a slender build and a narrow, pointed face. Ero-sennin had transformed into the boy's father. The similarity between the two was striking, although Ero-sennin appeared to have a bit more weight on him.

"You just let me do the talking," Ero-sennin said softly, as the two of them strode up to a small group of civilians. Naruto nodded.

"Excuse me, sir," the perverted sage called to the man nearest to them. He had shoulder length blond hair and a round face. There was a smile on his face, but a shadow lurked behind his blue eyes.

"Yes?"

"My son and I are a little bit lost at the moment. Do you know where we could find a map of the surrounding area?" Ero-sennin asked.

The blond man looked back thoughtfully, as if deciding how to respond. "Well, you could just tell me where you're headed, and I can point you in the right direction. I know these parts very well, if I do say so myself."

"We're going to the village of Myobo. It's not exactly nearby, though. Have you heard of it?" Ero-sennin lied smoothly.

"Can't say that I have. Well, there are some maps of the area in the inn." He pointed to a large building across the street. "My name's George. Tell the owner that I sent ya." What kind of a name was George? Or Rosemary, for that matter?

"And I'm Takamaru." Naruto recognized the name from the few pages of Ero-sennin's novel that he had been forced to proofread. "Thank you, George-san."

"And I'm Naruto!" A look passed quickly over Jiraiya's face. He was probably cursing his student's carelessness. Naruto, though, wasn't stupid. He was merely impulsive and oblivious, with a sub-standard education. In any case, he knew that he wasn't exactly a famous ninja, so it wouldn't hurt to give his first name to a civilian. That way, he would be less likely to accidentally slip up.

"Pleased to meet ya both," George replied turning back to the animated conversation of the group of civilians.

Naruto and Ero-sennin ambled over to the inn that George had pointed out. They opened the door to reveal a brightly lit room with a few empty tables and chairs. A woman, presumably the owner of the small establishment, sat in a chair behind a short counter. She appeared to be middle-aged, with a hint of gray tinging her long black hair. She looked up, interest showing in her brown eyes.

Ero-sennin spoke first. "Good afternoon, innkeeper-san. Geroge-san sent me here to see your maps. My son and I are a little lost, I'm afraid."

The innkeeper reached slowly under the counter and pulled out a small stack of maps. Silently, she handed them to Ero-sennin. Naruto was slightly unnerved.

He followed his sensei to one of the nearby tables and sat down, peering at the maps in front of him. He didn't recognize any of the places there, and from the expression on his face, neither did Ero-sennin, and he was a spy master! Apparently, they were in a land called Fiore. Ero-sennin looked like he didn't know how to react. Naruto didn't blame him. He felt helpless in a way that he never had before. How could he ever become Hokage if he couldn't even find his way back to Konoha?

"Hey! Granny! Don't you have any others!" Naruto almost shouted. The woman shook her head. The way she didn't speak a word... Did she think he and Ero-sennin were beneath her, barely worth her notice? It rankled at Naruto.

He was about to say something about it, but Ero-sennin gave him a look, silencing him. Naruto knew they shouldn't be drawing attention to themselves, but it was hard for the Number One Unpredictable Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja-the exact opposite of how he'd lived his life for the past few years.

After an excruciating minute of silence, Ero-sennin got up and returned the small pile of maps.

"Thank you, innkeeper-san. Also, I have a few other questions for you. May I speak with you privately?" He glanced at Naruto. She gestured him to follow and led him to a room down the hall. The door closed, and Naruto was left alone.

* * *

"Do you know any Uzumaki?" Jiraiya asked abruptly once the door closed and he made sure Naruto wasn't listening in.

"That's a name I haven't heard in a very long time." The woman watched him closely before asking, "Why would you want to know about the Uzumaki?"

"The boy's mother was an Uzumaki. I'm trying to discover if any of his kin still live."

"He doesn't look like an Uzumaki."

"He takes after his father."

"Yes, I can see that." She hesitated briefly, before continuing. "The Uzumaki are dead and gone. You will find none here."

"Do you know where else we might find any?"

"No... If the boy's mother was truly an Uzumaki, I wish you luck on your search... They were good people."

Jiraiya sighed. "I would appreciate it if you didn't mention any of this to the boy. His mother died the day he was born, and her family before that. He's never known any of them. I don't want to weigh him down with stories of his dead family down. I don't want to break his heart with false hope. He's had such a hard life already..." Jiraiya's voice was sincere.

He often felt torn about keeping Naruto's past a secret, but he could never bring himself to put his little gaki, or himself, through the painful memories of the past. Would anyone want to know that their own father had made them into a jinchuriki? Or that their birth set off a chain reaction that led to the deaths of so many, including both their parents? And the longer the secret was kept, the more betrayed Naruto would probably feel when it was finally revealed.

Sometimes, it was best to just leave the past in the past and move forward. Jiraiya suspected that Kakashi and Hiruzen-sensei had had similar motives for keeping quiet, once Naruto found out about the Kyuubi.

Jiraiya opened the door and rejoined his waiting student. "Thank you again-"

"Kamikura Mikazuchi."

"...Mikazuchi-san. It was a pleasure. Naruto, let's go."

Jiraiya took one last look at quiet woman, and her ample bosom, before he and Naruto walked out the door.

* * *

_10 Minutes Later_

Naruto beamed up at his seal master sensei. They had left town and walked a short distance into the forest. Then, Ero-sennin had offered to begin training Naruto in fuinjutsu.

"Really? You're going to teach me fuinjutsu? That's awesome!"

"You especially should at least know the basics, and now is as good a time as any. Now, have your clones learned anything new?"

Naruto concentrated. He had been getting better at noticing new memories, but he still wasn't perfect. After a moment, he shook his head. Only one clone had dispelled since the last time Ero-sennin had asked, but it hadn't seen anything worth reporting. In fact, the memories it came back with were embarrassing. He would never look at a rabbit the same way again.

He shifted his attention back to Ero-sennin, imagining all the things he could do when he became a seal master. No more buying explosive tags, and no more hauling around mission supplies, just to begin with.

Naruto listened closely as Jiraiya began his lecture. "All seals have two components: kanji and chakra. The kanji act in much the same way as hand seals in ninjutsu. They give the chakra a basic frame and an anchor.

"It can do this because chakra has a mental component. That's why chakra constructs like your shadow clones and the Bijuu can think. When you infuse a seal with your chakra, the chakra actually interprets the kanji and acts accordingly."

"Really? Chakra can think?"

"It's a little more complicated than that, but basically, yes. No matter how well you describe a fuinjutsu with kanji, though, it's never perfect. Sort of like trying to describe a picture with words. Your chakra, containing your vision of the details of the seal's chakra flow, fills in the blanks left by the kanji.

"Using less kanji is generally considered to be more desirable, as it makes the seal quicker to create, more compact, and more difficult to copy. However, it requires more concentration and chakra control. Again, it's similar to hand seals and ninjutsu in this regard."

Naruto frowned and scratched his head, still thinking about his chakra thinking. Chakra interpreting kanji and hand seals... it reminded him of his training at the academy. "So... all those years in the academy we spent moving our chakra and doing hand seals... we were training our chakra to move that way when we used that hand seal for a jutsu?"

Ero-sennin looked surprised, and a little amused. "I guess you could put it that way. We might make a seal master out of you someday."

Naruto continued along his train of thought. "Is that how Haku did his one-handed hand seals? He trained his chakra to respond to those as well?"

"There are shinobi from Kirigakure who use one-handed hand seals, if that's what you're referring to. They aren't widespread because using only one hand causes you to feel inherently unbalanced, which affects your chakra. Usually, one-handed seals result in a weaker jutsu, and so are only really useful in a few special circumstances. Most ninja choose to spend their time training in other ways."

Naruto felt like a whole new world had been opened to him. Why didn't they explain it like that in the academy? Come to think of it, they probably had. He really should have paid more attention.

"Getting back to fuinjutsu," Jiraiya said, "you can see why the sealing arts are so complex and varied. There are far more kanji than hand seals, after all. Understand all that?"

Naruto nodded, his mind whirling.

"Right, then. We'll begin by identifying parts of a seal. Do you have an explosive seal handy?"

* * *

_5 Minutes Later_

It was slowly coming together for Naruto. Fuinjutsu just made sense to him in a way no other type of jutsu had. He could now see exactly how the seal converted chakra into fire, then forced it to explode outwards. Ero-sennin also seemed impressed with his progress. The old pervert was studying his own seal, a look of careful concentration on his face.

As Naruto turned back to his basic explosive tag, an urgent memory suddenly burst into life inside his head. He had been getting a little better at noticing memories when they popped into his head, as seven sets had since the first, but this one was different. It demanded his attention.

"Ero-sennin! One of my clones just ran into that missing-nin! Another one is stalling for time until we get there. Let's go!" Naruto shouted as he leapt into the tree branches above his head.

* * *

_With Naruto's Clone_

Naruto's clone faced the missing-nin in front of him warily. After creating and dispelling a clone to inform the original, he didn't have enough chakra left to last long in a battle. Not to mention the fact that a single hit would forcibly dispel him. If he wanted to stall the missing-nin long, he would have to get him talking. Luckily, it was surprisingly easy to get even the most evil of shinobi to stop fighting and begin talking for a while. Ninja, in general, seemed to enjoy giving speeches on the battlefield. Judging by their last encounter, though, this guy seemed to be the exception.

The clone approached the missing-nin cautiously, ready to perform a Substitution Jutsu at a moment's notice.

"Who are you? Why'd you trap us here? Where are we?" Naruto's clone demanded, remembering his last encounter with the man.

Surprisingly, the missing-nin responded. "I am, as I said before, Mystogan of Fairy Tail. You are now in Earthland, in the Kingdom of Fiore. As for trapping you here... that was unintentional."

"It looked pretty intentional to me! You threw your creepy staffs around and killed the jutsu!"

"Let me explain. I was indeed attempting to close the portal, but I did not mean to close it while you were on this side."

"Why should I believe you? You're a missing-nin!"

The missing-nin didn't reply for a few seconds, no doubt thinking of a way to make the wary blond boy in fron of him to trust a missing-nin. Finally, he asked, "What is a missing-nin?"

Naruto felt insulted. Even he wouldn't fall for that. The masked man in front of him clearly had a forehead protector without an emblem of affiliation, and he was obviously a ninja, because Naruto had seen him use jutsu. Every ninja knew what a missing-nin was.

"What are you, stupid? I don't know a single person who would believe that lie!"

"I don't think you understand where you are. You are no longer in Edolas at all. You and the other man have travelled to an entirely different dimension. This is Earthland."

This was getting almost laughable. But, if it kept the guy talking, Naruto would go along with it. Who knew how long it would take for the original and Ero-sennin to get here.

"Alright, then, prove it! Prove that I'm not in the Elemental Nations anymore."

"The Elemental Nations? ...Not Edolas?"

"That's right! The Elemental Nations! I've never heard of this Edolas place!"

Naruto had a lot of practice at reading masked expressions, so he easily recognized the confusion appearing in the missing-nin's face. Naruto had to at least give this to the guy: despite having the poorest story he had ever heard, he was an excellent actor. He actually seemed to believe his story.

This gave Naruto a pause. What could a person possibly gain by telling such a ridiculous lie? Unless it was the truth? Naruto remembered Ero-sennin's failed toad summoning, and the from the inn. And, come to think of it, the missing-nin hadn't attacked them once, unless one counted him closing the portal.

"Alright, I'm listening now. Tell me everything."

* * *

_With Original Naruto, 20 Minutes Later_

Naruto caught the next set of memories as they entered his brain. It didn't take too long to get used to, now that he was consciously aware of the process. Soon, he would be able to catch them perfectly. This set of memories, though, was the most interesting of all.

"Ero-sennin! I think the missing-nin up ahead might actually be a friend. I got a new memory set from the clone I left up there. He said that, well, I'll let him tell you when we get there."

* * *

_With Jiraiya, Later_

Jiraiya decided to work under the assumption that the "mage," as he called himself, was telling the truth. He wouldn't let his guard down, of course, but it made a lot of sense once he got past the automatic "that's crazy" feeling. And now that Jiraiya knew-or at least thought he knew-what the seal had meant to do, it would make recreating it in reverse much easier. He knew what the seal looked like and its intended effect. Additionally, the designer seemed to have tried to make the seal as transparent and easy to understand as possible. All in all, Jiraiya was beginning to feel somewhat optimistic about the future.

The three of them were on board a train that would take them to Magnolia, Mystogan's home. These Earthlanders had a lot of very interesting devices. While most weren't exactly practical in the shinobi world, they had potential.

Jiraiya used the time to study the space-time seal from Uzushiogakure and to teach Naruto more fuinjutsu. The boy was soaking it up, even though fuinjutsu seemed the exact opposite to his fighting style and personality. Then again, considering who the gaki's parents were, it really wasn't surprising at all. Using shadow clones had only sped up his training. Before the train ride was over, he would probably be able to create his own simple explosive tags.

Jiraiya chuckled as he saw a Naruto run sideways along the outside of the train. With shadow clones, not only was the gaki learning fuinjutsu, but he was also improving his chakra control and working on completing the Big Ball Rasengan simultaneously. Jiraiya couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it before. If Naruto used 100 clones every time he trained, he could essentially get 200 years of experience during their training trip. It was mind boggling. Maybe, he'd even get Pa to teach Naruto senjutsu. Jiraiya couldn't wait to see the look on Tsunade's face when she saw the gaki again.

Perhaps Jiraiya would even admit to being very optimistic about the future. Of course, it wouldn't mean anything if he couldn't figure out the seal scribbled in front of him. Sighing, he got back to work.

* * *

_With Naruto, Later_

Mystogan led them to a building with "FAIRY TAIL" printed on a sign in large letters above the door. Then he vanished, leaving the two shinobi. "Let's do this!" Naruto yelled as he threw open the doors.

* * *

**Chapter Summary: Naruto and Jiraiya arrive in Rosemary Village after it's discovered by a shadow clone. They look at maps, but are unable to find anything familiar on them. Jiraiya inquires privately about the Uzumaki and is told that they are dead and gone. They leave the village, and Jiraiya starts to teach Naruto fuinjutsu. Another clone runs into Mystogan, and is eventually convinced that he is a friend and they are in another dimension. Jiraiya also becomes (mostly) convinced when he speaks with Mystogan. Naruto begins to train with shadow clones, and Mystogan takes them to Fairy Tail, where the chapter ends.**

**A/N: Well, there's another chapter. Expect the third to be up in about two days. It was shorter and unexciting, so I'll try to post the next one quickly to make up for it. The Phantom Lord arc begins next chapter, so it should be much more interesting.**

**So, what worked in this chapter? What didn't?**

**There's the Uzumaki subplot, of course. In case any of you didn't know before, Nagato/Pain is an Uzumaki. I wasn't sure if Jiraiya knew this or not, but right now he believes that Nagato is dead. Orochimaru, from Jiraiya's comments on the Ame trio, his own guesswork, his experiences with the Akatsuki, and a lot of digging, put all of this together. The guy is a scientist, and a good albeit immoral one. Like he's not going to try everything he can to find out about the Rinnegan. Really. So, yeah, he knows all about Nagato. As for his reasons for giving info to Jiraiya, he has a few more. Maybe I'll give you guys an Orochimaru POV later to fully explain the situation.**

**Naruto's training: As you can tell, Naruto's training is going to move quite a bit faster than canon, and he's going to delve much deeper into fuinjutsu.**

**Power levels: Jiraiya's pretty weakened right now without his toad summons, but he could still take on most S-class mages without much difficulty. Naruto is probably on par with Natsu & co. Maybe they'll have a fight, and we'll see who comes out on top? If he's pushed into using Kyubi chakra, though, Naruto's definitely in S-class mage territory. All in all, in terms of power, the Narutoverse will have the edge because of their speed, versatility, and ruthlessness. However, *hint hint* the Elemental Nations won't be in any position to take advantage of this. And the Fairy Tail 'verse certainly isn't helpless.**

**Chakra v. Magic: They're very similar energy in this fic, and they are related, though they're not the same. I'll probably explain their relationship in-universe at some point.**

**Fuinjutsu: Did I do a good job describing my interpretation of the sealing arts? Did anyone find any inconsistencies within my story or with canon? And Naruto's already learned one of Minato's famous original jutsu. Should he ever learn the other?**

**The Uzushio Seal: I'm not sure I'll ever find a place to explain it in-universe, so I guess I'll explain it here. The part that harnesses nature energy was invented by Mito Uzumaki. She was a seal master and wife of Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage. He had his own Sage Mode, so she was able to devise the seal after observation and experimentation (of a more ethical nature than Orochimaru's). The actual portal was created by a student of Mito's. He was an Uzumaki fuinjutsu scientist, not a true shinobi. He and a couple others managed to escape through this portal when Uzushio was invaded, around 30 years before the beginning story. As for the Nature chakra portion of the seal, that doesn't quite make it self-sustaining. Human chakra is needed to gather and manipulate the Nature chakra, and the original chakra infusing the portal will eventually run out.**

**Jiraiya's reasons for not telling Naruto about his parents: He and Kakashi tend to get bashed a little for not telling Naruto, so I wanted to give an argument in their favor. I believe that they actually believed that Naruto would be better off not knowing. Now, that doesn't necessarily make it right, but it does show that their hearts are in the right place. I tend to be an idealist when it comes to character interpretation. Unless the character's name is Sasuke Uchiha.**

**Japanese v. English: It may seem a little schizo at times, but this story is written to my personal preference on a case by case basis. Hope it doesn't bother anyone too much.**

**OCs: I won't have any OCs playing any major story roles. They'll usually be one-shots to advance the plot in some way. George in this chapter, for example, is never going to be seen again. If an OC seems to have a large role in a chapter, and you don't like them, don't worry. You'll probably never see them again. That said, if I ever introduce an OC that you fall in love with, let me know, and I might bring them back.**

**Flashbacks/Omakes: I'm thinking about adding a flashback and/or omake to the end of every chapter. Any suggestions for next chapter's? They can be anything from Jiraiya's encounter with Orochimaru to the destruction of Uzushiogakure to what the rest of Naruto's clones were getting up to during this chapter.**

**Whew, these notes are almost longer than the chapter, now! Anyways, thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto could only stare at the scene in front of him, his jaw hanging open. A massive brawl was in progress within the guild hall. Tables, chairs, and people were flying in every direction.

"This place... This place is awesome!"

"You're right about that, gaki," Ero-sennin agreed, ogling the female mages of Fairy Tail appreciatively. "I think we're going to enjoy our stay here."

Just as Naruto was about to leap into the fray, a nice-looking white haired girl approached them. "Hello, my name is Mirajane. Can I help you two?"

Jiraiya, a lecherous grin appearing, was quick to respond, "Of course! How would you like to help me with research for a novel of mine?"

Mirajane looked intrigued. "What kind of research?"

"Research of a romantic nature. You could start by posing for me in your bathing suit."

Naruto grinned, waiting for the girl to punch the perverted Sage across the room.

He almost fainted when she gave Ero-sennin a smile and a laugh, instead. "Alright! That sounds fun! Would you like to see my portfolio first?"

Ero-sennin looked like he had just won the lottery, and a trickle of blood began to flow from his nose.

"Oh yes, gaki, we're going to enjoy our stay here very, very much!"

Naruto recovered as he watched Mirajane lead Jiraiya away. He shook his head slowly. Just how different was this dimension? Shrugging, he jumped into the massive free-for-all.

* * *

After five minutes of throwing punches to his heart's content, the fighting began to die down around Naruto. The mages around him seemed to be respectfully watching a small, old man.

The newcomer looked up at Naruto. "Are you Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Yes! And you'd better remember me, Old Man! I'm gonna be Hokage someday!" Naruto responded enthusiastically.

"I don't think I'll ever forget you. I'm Makarov, the Master of this guild. Now, where is your guardian? The three of us have a few things to discuss."

"The old pervert? Right over there." Naruto gestured to a corner where Ero-sennin sat. His face couldn't be seen from behind the copy of _The Weekly Sorceror_ Mirajane had given him. Still, Naruto could easily imagine the expression on his face as perverted giggles rose from behind the magazine. "Ero-sennin! The old man here wants to talk to us!"

Jiraiya slowly lowered the photo spread, exuding disappointment.

"Perhaps another time, Mira-chan," he said, as he reluctantly joined Naruto and Makarov. The three of them left the guild's main hall and entered Makarov's office.

"Now, what are we going to do about you two? I had a short chat with Mystogan just now, but I want to hear from you."

"We just need a little temporary accomodation until we can find a way to get back home," Ero-sennin explained. "Of course, we don't expect charity. Mystogan described your guild's system of missions, and we'd be willing to do some of those. I'm also an extremely famous author of fine literature, where I come from. I'm sure I could republish my novels here."

"Fairy Tail can lend you enough money to rent an apartment. You can pay us back later," Makarov offered. "Of course, only guild members can officially take missions, so you'll always need someone to accompany you. Unless you wish to join..."

"No. Our loyalties lie with Konohagakure," Ero-sennin gestured to Naruto's forehead protector, "and we only intend to remain here for a short amount of time."

Old Man Makarov nodded understandingly. Ero-sennin looked slightly distrustful. Naruto understood why. The situation seemed way to good to be true, especially to a cynical old spymaster like Ero-sennin. The old man was being way too generous. Ero-sennin hesitated, then asked, "Why are you helping us? For all you know, we could mean harm to you or your guild."

"The two of you are stranded here. You need someone to to lift you from solitude and help you on your way. It is the right thing to do; it is the way of Fairy Tail."

Jiraiya nodded solemnly, accepting the explanation for the moment. "Thank you, Makarov-dono."

* * *

"What's going on, Ero-sennin? You've barely said a word for the past hour!"

Naruto and Ero-sennin were sitting outside while Naruto worked on creating a storage seal. He had 50 more clones doing various other training.

"Hmm? I'm just trying to figure something out."

"That seal thing?"

"Not this time." Ero-sennin sighed. "You know, gaki, even I can see that there's too much hate in our shinobi world, and it only keeps growing... Did you know that Fiore hasn't been involved in a major war for nearly 400 years?"

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. Accurate written history in the Elemental Nations barely stretched back 100 years, when the chaotic Era of Warring Clans had ended. Since then, there had been three major wars. Naruto knew that Ero-sennin had actually fought in two of them.

Jiraiya continued. "I hope that one day, we can all come together and understand each other, but I don't know... I don't know how to get there. Are the answers here?"

"You don't know? You don't have the answer?" Naruto inquired.

"Not yet. Who knows-maybe I won't find the answer in my lifetime. I'll be counting on you, then. Can you succeed, if I fail?"

"Don't talk like that, Ero-sennin! Of course you'll find the answer!"

"Well, I appreciate your faith in me..." Ero-sennin ruffled Naruto's hair affectionately. "Alright, Naruto, let's lay down a couple of rules. We're in a new dimension now."

"Really?" Naruto asked in a crestfallen tone.

"First, do anything the Guild Master asks, within reason. Second, don't use ninjutsu in front of anyone without a good reason, and if you do, then don't explain your techniques. The people here don't seem to know about ninjutsu, so we should use that to our advantage. That means no shadow clones where people can see them."

"No shadow clones? Even in front of guild members?"

"It's best to play it safe for now." Ero-sennin seemed to note the unhappiness on Naruto's face, and switched tactics. "Let me show you what an incredible advantage this is. Imagine that you're pulling a prank on someone." This caught Naruto's attention. "If no one know's abou shadow clones, you could easily use leave a clone somewhere public while you, under a transformation, pull the prank. Instant alibi!"

Now that Naruto thought about it that way, there was no way he was going to show the guild members his shadow clones. A grin slowly spread on his face as he considered the possibilities. He was really going to enjoy his stay here.

"Third rule. Share as little information as possible about our home. It might seem harmless here, but a ninja can never be too careful. I don't think I need to mention that that goes double for your... condition." Ero-sennin finished. "That's all the rules I have right now. Can you follow them?"

"Believe it!"

"Great! Now, let's work a bit on your taijutsu."

* * *

Naruto woke up the next morning with a smile on his face. Nothing would ever be able to replace Konoha, but this place was already beginning to feel like a second home. He fit in in a way he never had anywhere before. In Konoha, he had been ostracized because of the Kyuubi. Even the ninja who should have known better tended to look down on him. Painful memories of the Kyuubi and Naruto's seeming incompetence saw to that. When travelling with Ero-sennin, being a ninja had always set him apart from the civilians in the towns and villages they had visited.

Here, though, the mages didn't look down on him. Here, being loud and causing destruction seemed to be normal, almost expected. And, of course, no one knew about the Kyuubi. They never would, if Naruto had his way.

Ero-sennin had rented them an apartment about ten minutes walking distance from Fairy Tail. Naruto was excited to get there this morning. Ero-sennin had said that they could go on their first mission today.

"Come on, Ero-sennin! Let's go! It's time for our first mission!"

From the room next door, Ero-sennin let out a groan. "Wake me up tomorrow, instead..."

Naruto remembered that Ero-sennin had gotten into a drinking contest with a girl named Cana Alberone last night. He was obviously feeling the effects of that now, although he hadn't even come close to winning. Naruto wondered for a moment what the two had wagered on the contest, then decided he was probably better off not knowing.

"But Ero-sennin, we're going on our first mission today! We can't miss that!"

Ero-sennin grumbled, but grudgingly rose from his bed. Apparently, he had it was better for his headache to get up than to try and sleep through his student's yelling. He looked terrible.

Ero-sennin stumbled to the door, and the two of them began to make their way to Fairy Tail.

"So, gaki, what training did you get done while I was... indisposed?"

"Look! I made my first sealing scroll!" Naruto brandished the roll of paper proudly. He'd used it to store hid ninja tools, the scroll about fuinjutsu Ero-sennin had given him, and a few cups of ramen. It couldn't hold very much, but it would only react to his chakra. He'd never had a personalized sealing scroll before.

Naruto put away the sealing scroll and waved around an explosive tag. "And look at this, Ero-sennin! It's a special explosive tag I made. It can knock someone out without killing, maiming, or even scarring!"

"Anything else?"

"I was just about to show you! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A Naruto doppelganger appeared next to him in a puff of smoke. With its help, Naruto formed a whirling sphere of chakra in his hand. The clone remained, stabilizing it.

"Pretty good, huh?"

"Pretty good," Ero-sennin agreed. "I think you're ready to take the Rasengan to the next level. You can have your clones work on it while you and I study other things."

"There's another level? Ero-sennin, you've got to show it to me!"

"Calm down, gaki! I was just thinking that you ought to learn to do the basic Rasengan with one hand. You know, without using any shadow clones. It'll make you a much more dangerous shinobi. And, once you get that done, I'll teach you the final level of the Rasengan. One that even the Fourth Hokage wasn't able to complete."

"REALLY?! Teach me right now! I can learn the boring stuff later!"

"Not yet, gaki. You still have a lot left to learn before you're ready for that. There's a lot more to being a shinobi than learning new jutsu. The 'boring stuff' and the basics are just as important. This training trip was never about jutsu; it was always about giving you a better foundation to work off of. We're building your skills from the ground up."

Ero-sennin was always talking like that, but how could he bring back Sasuke without knowing better jutsu? The Rasengan hadn't been enough last time.

Ero-sennin gave a short chuckle. "You'll understand one day, gaki. When you have students of your own, demanding that you teach them new jutsu, you'll probably tell them the same thing."

Undeterred, Naruto used his secret weapon. "How about if I show you my new and improved Sexy Jutsu?"

A small rivulet of blood flowed from the perverted Sannin's nose. "It's... it's not that easy, gaki! It's just that if you can't completely master the basic Rasengan, there's no way you'll master the completed version. So, please! Show me the new Sexy Jutsu! I'll teach you... um... my Transparency Jutsu! Ever wanted to be invisible?"

Naruto thought about it for a few seconds. He could probably get a bit more out of Ero-sennin. He scoffed, loud enough for his sensei to hear. "Is that all I would get for showing you my awesome original jutsu?"

Before Ero-sennin could reply, they came in view of the guild. It had been impaled with a dozen enormous metal rods.

"Ero-sennin? I don't think the guild's supposed to look like that." A large number of guild members were gathered outside, looking confused and angry. "Phantom Lord," Naruto heard the mages whispering among themselves. _What's Phantom Lord?_ Naruto and Ero-sennin listened, usure what to do. Phantom Lord, it seemed, was a rival guild to Fairy Tail. From what Naruto could tell, guilds were sort of like miniature demilitarized hidden villages. Was this other guild invading?

After several minutes, Old Man Makarov showed up. His face was red and shaking with carefully controlled fury.

"As everyone undoubtedly knows by now, Phantom Lord has taken credit for this cowardly attack. As much as those scumbags deserve it, though, we are not to retaliate in any way. We must allow the council handle it. In the meantime, until the guild hall is repaired, we can operate from the basement."

Now, Naruto was even more confused. "Why aren't they going to fight back?"

"Well, gaki, it's part of their answer."

"Answer?"

"It's part of how they keep peace in this world." Ero-sennin clarified. "They're trying to stop the cycle of revenge. If they strike back against Phantom Lord, the fighting will probably continue until one or both of them are destroyed. If Fairy Tail did win, how would those who had precious people in Phantom Lord feel? They will attack as well. Hatred gives birth to hatred. Someone has to stop it. Makarov is doing that while the stakes are still low. No one was injured, after all."

Naruto realized that Ero-sennin must have put a lot of thought into those ideas. He gained a greater measure of respect for his sensei, as well as Makarov-jiji. Briefly, he imagined what would happen if Konoha was attacked, and his precious people were all killed. _Would I be strong enough to end the cycle of revenge? Would I refuse to follow Sasuke's path?_ To his surprise, he couldn't answer those questions. Hopefully, he would never have to. He couldn't even imagine how painful that would be.

They joined the rest of Fairy Tail in the guild's basement. An oppressive atmosphere surrounded the mages. Old Man Makarov was drinking himself silly while giggling and reading a familiar orange book. _This Old Man's a closet pervert, too?_ When had he managed to procure a copy of _Icha Icha Paradise,_ anyway?

After nearly an hour of languishing with the depressed guild, Naruto and Ero-sennin left with the intention of training some more. As they were leaving, they saw a group Fairy Tail mages, none of whom Naruto recognized, returning from a mission.

Their party consisted of two boys and two girls, all looking three to five years older than Naruto, and a blue bipedal cat with a green backpack. Naruto assumed the cat was an Earthland version of a summon. One of the boys wore a scarf and had pink hair, like Sakura. The other had black hair and was wearing a flower-printed island shirt. The first girl had long blond hair and a whip strapped to her side. The last girl looked to be the oldest of the four, with long red hair and wearing a breastplate comfortably. Jiraiya gave her a long look. Naruto was certain all sorts of perverted thoughts were running through his head.

The pink haired boy shook with anger as Mirajane softly explained what had happened, and darkness covered his face. Naruto could understand their pain. It was the pain Naruto himself had experienced when Orochimaru had invaded Konoha. He tried to convey his empathy when he caught the older boy's eyes. Then, Naruto and Ero-sennin left to search for a good training ground.

Naruto and Ero-sennin ended up training in a secluded forest area just outside of Magnolia. Naruto summoned hundreds of shadow clones again to go through his various training exercises. Some sparred with taijutsu, others worked on the Rasengan, another group did chakra control exercises and still more studied fuinjutsu. Ero-sennin gave pointers every once in a while, although most of his attention was focused on That Seal, as Naruto dubbed it.

When Naruto dismissed all of his clones, he was left feeling exhausted, both mentally and physically. No. Exhausted didn't even _begin_ to describe how he felt. He collapsed on the spot. He felt Ero-sennin carefully pick him up and begin carrying him back to their apartment. Maybe, just maybe, if Naruto did this every day for as long as it took, he'd be strong enough to protect all of his precious people, and to bring Sasuke back. Then, he'd become the greatest Hokage that Konoha had ever seen. The thought warmed him as he drifted off to sleep in Jiraiya's arms.

* * *

Naruto woke up with the satisfying aches and pains that were the evidence of a good training session. Ero-sennin was already up, studying That Seal again. Every once in a while, he would scribble a note or two down in his notebook. Naruto wondered how much progress he was making. Although it was easy to forget most of the time, Ero-sennin was a seal master with a genius level intellect. If anyone could solve it, he could. He had trained the Fourth Hokage, after all.

"I'm awake now, Ero-sennin! Now, let's go get our first mission!" After what had happened yesterday, they hadn't been in the mood to do a mission, and asking a guild member to accompany them would have felt insensitive, even to the oblivious Naruto. But today was a new day. They would definitely go on a mission today.

As they approached the guild house, they noticed another commotion.

"...Phantom Lord..."

"...Southgate Park..."

"...three of them..."

_What is it now?_ If anything, the guild members were more upset than they'd been yesterday. _So much for going on a mission today,_ Naruto thought wryly.

Naruto and Ero-sennin, in unspoken agreement, made their way to Magnolia's Southgate Park.

When they arrived, they saw three Fairy Tail mages hanging from a tree, with Phantom Lord symbols painted on them. Naruto recognized them as Team Shadow Gear. They had met on Naruto's first day at Fairy Tail. It made his blood boil to see them treated this way, but at least they weren't dead. Orochimaru would have left corpses.

Naruto shuddered. The Snake Sannin never failed to get under his skin. Worst of all was the feeling of helplessness the creepy ninja gave Naruto. Orochimaru had taken some of Naruto's most precious people from him, and none of his efforts had been enough. _Hokage-jiji. Sasuke._

Naruto shook his head to clear away his dark thoughts, returning to the present. Old Man Makarov and the new group of mages from the day before had shown up in the meantime.

The old man's wrath felt tangible. "I can stand being reduced to a run-down beer hall... But no parent can stand idle while the blood of his children is spilled!" He smashed his staff into the ground, and golden magical energy became visibly flowed off of him.

"To war!"

The demeanor of the gathered mages changed at the declaration. They steeled themselves, slowly filling with determination.

_To war!_

* * *

Makarov watched Naruto and Jiraiya closely. He didn't know what it was about the two of them that gave it away, but Makarov could tell. They had experienced war, even the barely teenaged youth. They must have had terribly difficult lives before they came here.

Team Shadow Gear was being carried away on stretchers. The medics had said that they would be fine, given care and enough time to recover. _Thank Kami_, he whispered.

He turned back to Jiraiya and Naruto. "You two must stay out of this. It is a matter of Fairy Tail."

Naruto's face fell, but Jiraiya smiled diplomatically. "Of course, Makarov-dono."

* * *

Lucy watched over Team Shadow Gear as they lay in their hospital beds. _Jet, Droy. Levy-chan._ She remembered when she had met the blue haired Levy and her two admirers. Levy-chan had somehow heard that Lucy was writing a novel, and had forced Lucy to promise that she could be the first to read it. She had been so fun and friendly. Now, Levy-chan was here in a hospital bed. How was that fair?

Lucy gave a start when the door suddenly opened. Two people she didn't know walked through the door, although she did recognize them from yesterday, when she and her team had returned from their mission to find the guild hall destroyed. The first was a tall, middle-aged man with long white hair, reaching all the way down his back. He had a forehead protector engraved with the kanji for 'oil'. The second was a blond boy dressed in a distinctive orange jumpsuit. He what looked like three whisker marks on each cheek, and also had a forehead decorated by what appeared to be a stylized leaf.

"Who are you? Friends of Levy-chan?"

The older one struck a pose and spoke dramatically, "I'm Jiraiya of the Sannin, the Legendary Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku!"

Then, he gave her a lecherous smile she recognized from Taurus, her perverted Celestial Spirit. "And who are you, little miss? I'd very much like to get to know you."

The blond boy rolled his eyes before introducing himself as well. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, dattebayo! We're... er... guests of Fairy Tail. We just thought we'd visit while the guild fight Phantom Lord."

"They're leaving? Already? I've got to go, then!"

"Well... they already left," the blond boy answered. "But you can stay here with us! What's your name?"

Oh, well. Someone had to stay behind to take care of Levy-chan, after all.

"I'm Lucy!" she replied, consciously leaving out her last name. "Pleased to meet you!"

"The pleasure is mine," Jiraiya said. Lucy sighed. Weren't there already enough perverts in her life?

"Ero-sennin!

"Don't call me that, gaki!"

* * *

Lucy smiled as Naruto chatted happily beside her. He always had a smile on his face, and he talked a million miles an hour in his loud voice. Before she came to Fairy Tail, she would have found it annoying. Now, it just seemed cute. Constant exposure to Natsu did that to a person.

Unfortunately, his perverted guardian had accompanied her as well. She tried her best to ignore the leers he directed her way. She only tolerated it because Fairy Tail was at war, so it was best that people stayed in groups.

The two of them had gone with her when she went grocery shopping. The younger boy craved the attention she offered him, and the older man craved... She abandoned that train of thought. They were on their way to Lucy's apartment, laden down with food.

As they neared their destination, it suddenly began to rain. Odd. There weren't any clouds in the sky. A blue haired girl dressed in dark blue appeared at the end off the street.

"Oh, no! A sunshower?" Getting wet was the last thing she wanted.

"Drip, drip, drop," the newcomer said, her voice monotone. How creepy. "Yes, Juvia is the rain-woman. Drip, drip, drop. Who are you?"

"Nani?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Um, who might you be?" Lucy demanded.

The blue haired woman ignored them.

"Drip, drip, drop..." she said again as she passed the trio. After a few second, she suddenly pulled out a pink parasol and opened it.

"It has been a pleasure. Fare thee well."

"Nani?!" Naruto repeated, sounding exactly as confused as Lucy felt. Jiraiya suddenly had a serious, wary expression. His body shifted into a combat stance. Naruto followed suit.

"Non, non, non!" A new voice exclaimed.

Lucy turned around, trying to locate the voice. Jiraiya and Naruto fixed their eyes on a portion of the road in front of them. Naruto reached one hand toward a pouch strapped to his thigh. The woman (Juvia?) stopped and turned around.

"Non, non, non!" The voice said again, and a shape began to rise from the spot Naruto and Jiraiya had been staring at.

"Non, non, non, non, non, non, non!" A bizarre man was standing in front of them. He had dark green hair that stood straight up, a thin mustache, and a brown suit. "With non of 3, 3, 7, I say to you bonjour!"

"It's another weirdo!" Lucy cried in horror.

"Juvia-sama," he addressed the blue girl. "You mustn't abandon your job now."

"Monsieur Sol," Juvia greeted him coolly.

"My monocle, it whispers to me, yes," the Frenchman informed her. It tells me that this madamoiselle is our beloved target?"

"Oh, so it was this girl?"

"Target?" Lucy asked, stunned.

"I do apologize for the late introduction. I am-" Sol was forced to cut his introduction short as a knife whistled past his face, barely dodged in time. Lucy glanced over to see Naruto holding another.

Before Lucy could react, a bubble of water encased her and her companions. Lucy realized she couldn't move, and that her keys were now lying on the ground, out of her reach.

"Nothing can escape Juvia's water lock," Juvia stated without emotion.

"Is that so?" Jiraiya asked, a knife at Sol's throat. Naruto had a knife at Juvia's throat as well. How? Lucy looked around and saw a pair of logs floating in the water where the pair had been only seconds earlier.

Juvia's face showed emotion for the first time. "How?"

Jiraiya ignored the question. "Now, you two are going to release Lucy and surrender, unless you want to suffer the consequences."

"Non, non! We couldn't do that!" Monsieur Sol attempted to sink quickly into the ground, but he had underestimated Jiraiya. A glowing blue orb appeared in his other hand, and he used it to uppercut Sol. It exploded, launching the weird man into the air.

At the same time, Juvia managed to push Naruto away with a wave of water. The young boy didn't seem to bothered by this, though. He brought his hands together, shouting "Kai!"

A small explosion blossomed from Juvia's back. She landed on the ground, unconscious.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya's hair had grown to epic proportions. He caught Sol with it, then slammed him into a nearby building, until he also fell unconscious.

The water prison around Lucy collapsed, and she gaped at the two guests of Fairy Tail.

"See, gaki." Jiraiya was apparently taking the time to lecture his young student. "Surprise can be a major advantage. If you can get a kunai at an unsuspecting opponent's back, you have the upper hand."

Naruto winced at this, like he was remembering something painful, embarrassing, or both.

"It doesn't matter how powerful their jutsu are if they never get to use them," Jiraiya finished.

Lucy picked up her keys. Once again, she'd been useless in a fight. If it weren't for these two, she would've been captured.

"So, who were these weirdos?" Naruto inquired.

"How should I know, gaki! You're the one who interrupted their introduction!" Jiraiya turned to Lucy. "Do you know who they are, or why they wanted to capture you?"

Lucy shook her head.

"Alright, Naruto. What should we do?" Jiraiya quizzed his student.

"Well, they're probably members of Phantom Lord, carrying out a war-related kidnapping. Since it's Fairy Tail's business, we should take them to the guild hall, make sure they have adequate medical treatment, imprison them, and wait for the guild to return. They can deal with these two."

Jiraiya nodded approvingly. "Excellent, gaki!"

Lucy didn't know what to make of the odd pair of mages. And she wasn't thinking about the ones lying unconscious in front of her. Just who were they?

* * *

_Omake - Requested by Mzr90_

* * *

Naruto grinned, remembering what Ero-sennin had said about shadow clones. He was going to pull such an amazing prank on the guild they would be reeling for weeks to come. And they wouldn't even know who was to blame. His first day at the guild was going to be very memorable. He sat quietly, in plain view of everyone, and prepared to watch the fun.

Anyone who knew Naruto would be immediately suspicious. Naruto. Sitting quietly. Grinning to himself. There would be only one conclusion: the apocalypse was imminent.

Unfortunately for them, no one recognized the signs.

* * *

Naruto's clone took careful note of everyone who had left the guild in the last hour. The original had left him with more than enough chakra for this. He stood just outside of the guild's entrance. He examined his surroundings carefully, amking sure no one was watching. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A dozen puffs of smoke appeared around him. Naruto's clone carefully assigned each of them their role in the prank. "Transform!" They shouted in unison. The fun was about to begin.

* * *

_Clone #1_

The first clone emerged from the cloud of smoke that accompanied his Transformation Jutsu, looking exactly like Old Man Makarov. He walked into the guild, a seious look on his face. All of Fairy Tail's attention turned to focus on him.

"Everyone! There is a very serious matter that requires our attention! Some evil mages were attempting a sinister magic in the area. I was able to apprehend them and put a stop to it, but not before several members of our guild were affected."

"Affected?" Someone asked. "How?"

"The spell has temporarily altered their personalities. It will wear off, in time, so do not worry. However, it is highly contagious. Avoid all contact, both physical and magical, with those affected." 'Makarov' warned the guild members. "Also, to preserve what remains of the dignity of this guild and the affected members, do not ever mention this incident again, to anyone. It is... highly embarrassing."

With that, 'Makarov' left the guild. As soon as he was out of sight, he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

* * *

_Clones #2 and #3_

Two and Three entered Fairy Tail about ten minutes after One left. They had transformed themselves, respectively, into Mirajane and Elfman. Naruto had decided to model their new personalities loosely after his comrades from Konoha.

As they entered the guild, 'Mirajane' spoke loudly to 'Elfman.' "Hey! I'm starved! Could you help me get some food?"

"Troublesome woman!"

"Please?"

"Fine!"

The two of them found some food, and 'Mirajane' began to devour it at an unholy speed. It was a good thing Naruto had practiced so much with ramen. 'Elfman' merely stared through the windows at the clouds.

"So, this is the personality altering magic?" Wakaba muttered. The rest of the guild was coming to the same conclusion, and were keeping their distance. It was incredibly weird to watch Mirajane eat like that, and to see Elfman acting so... un-manly.

"How long until it wears off, do you think? Master Makarov never said..." Macao asked.

'Mirajane' gave a loud belch, then grabbed another helping. If only they served ramen here...

"It's troublesome, but maybe we should go to a BBQ place." 'Elfman' muttered. "I wouldn't bother, but it'd be even more troublesome if we got caught in another one of those fights."

'Mirajane's' eyes lit up at BBQ. "Let's go!"

The two of them left, 'Elfman' being dragged by 'Mirajane.'

Whispered conversations broke out among the guild members. Many were having a private laugh at the siblings' expense.

Naruto smiled. The fun was only just beginning.

* * *

_Clone #4_

Four didn't know the name of the person he had transformed into. The man had stormed from the guild's second floor, muttering about weakness and glaring at Naruto accusingly. He had blond, spiky hair that stuck straight up and a lightning-shaped scar over his right eye. He wore a cloak trimmed with fur and a pair of spiked headphones.

Naruto had a special treat in store for this guy.

Five minutes or so after Two and Three gone in, Four put on his brightest smile, then walked into the guild hall.

"Fairy Tail, it is I!" Four exclaimed. "The Handsome Yellow Beast of Fairy Tail has returned!"

He mimicked Guy-sensei's patented Good Guy pose, giving a wide smile and a thumbs up. He even managed to get his smile to shine.

Looks of absolute shock surrounded him.

"Do not look so surprised! I am enjoying the Springtime of my Youth!"

One by one, the guild members around him recovered, and began to express their amusement. Chortles, guffaws, chuckles, laughter, giggles, and snorts echoed throughout the guild hall.

"Laxus?!"

"...No way!"

"The... Springtime... of... his Youth!"

"Wonderful! The power of your Youth has returned to you! Now, if you do not mind, I will run up and down those steps 1000 times. If I cannot do that, then I will run 500 laps around the guild hall on my hands!"

The exercise was tiring, but humiliating this blond grump made it worth every step, shouting every once in a while about the Power of Youth. It was surprisingly intoxicating. When he had finished, he left the guild and dispelled.

* * *

_Naruto_

Nine clones later, Naruto's show was over, but the prank was just beginning.

The real version spiky-haired blond-Laxus-entered the guild again. A ripple of laughter swept through the hall. It didn't escape the mage's notice.

"What is it? Is something funny?" He asked threateningly.

"It's just... what you did earlier..." Macao offered.

"What are you idiots talking about? I didn't do anything!"

"Ah, I see. We can see why you'd want to forget that little... incident." Wakaba said. "We'll try ou best to forget about it as well... No, I don't think that's possible... we'll try not to laugh about it, though..."

The rest of Fairy Tail nodded and tried, mostly unsuccessfully, to suppress giggles. Laxus watched them darkly. What on Earthland had possessed his guild?

**A/N: I'm back! And only a day late! In my defense, though, this chapter turned out extra long. Hope you enjoyed it. As always, let me know what you liked or didn't like.**

**Juvia and Sol v. Naruto and Jiraiya: My first ever fight scene, even if it was a short curb-stomp. That was the outcome that seemed logical to me, for a number of reasons. First, they were overconfident. Second, they wouldn't have been able to anticipate even simple ninja techniques like the Substitution Jutsu. This made them susceptible to being easily fools by things like shadow clones and Substitution Jutsus. Third, sneaking up behind someone makes them very easy to KO. In the very next episode of the anime, Aria defeats Makarov by sneaking up behind him. Aria is, of course, not even close to Makarov's power level. Situation matters as much as power. Fourth, Jiraiya's a Sannin. Even without his toads, there's no way he would be beaten by one of those two. In the manga, they were beaten by non-S-class Fairy Tail mages. In short, they're not as powerful as they hyped themselves to be, so they're more around Naruto's level. I probably could have stretched out Naruto v. Juvia more, maybe even having Jiraiya come in to help, but I'm satisfied with the scene as it is.**

**The Omake: Like I said last chapter, I want to do one of these at the end of some of my chapters, to fill in the history of this world, add a bit of humor, or whatever else I feel the story needs/the readers want. Did I do alright with this one? Any suggestions for the next one? Should I complete this one with what other clones did?**

**Naruto and Fuinjutsu: Yes, he's learning very fast. However, between who his parents are, using shadow clones to learn, and how quick he's shown to learn things in canon, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he could learn fuinjutsu at prodigy-level speed.**


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